Rambling Around Ramblewood Country Club

Ramblewood Country Club
Mt. Laurel, NJ
White/Blue Course
Yards: 3211/3002 - 6213
Par: 36/36 - 72
Rating: 70.1, Slope: 127
Score: 49/45 = 94
Date: July 28, 2008

I crossed the Delaware River into the Garden State to try my luck at Ramblewood Country Club, which still has the look and feel of an early 1960s suburban country club. The original 18 holes at Ramblewood, the Red and White courses, were designed by the legendary architect Ed Ault and opened in 1962. They feature long fairways with large greens that have subtle undulations. Water and hazards come into play on 13 of the 18 holes. An additional nine holes, the Blue course, was added nearly 10 years later. It is shorter and more tree-lined, with tighter, narrow fairways and medium-sized greens. The course was built through the Ramblewood community of Mt. Laurel and the backyards of the homes are adjacent to the fairways and greens of many holes.

White/Blue Scorecard for Ramblewood Country Club

For my round, I played the White/Blue course (the Red was closed). Because of the heavy rainstorms that had hit the area the day before, the fairways were very wet and there was little roll on tee shots, making my first nine play even longer. The greens, which were a bit slower at first, got quicker as the sun and 90+ degree temperatures dried them out.

The 1st Hole on the White Course, a 384-yard Par 4

I found the course to be in pretty good condition. Tee boxes were well maintained, as were the fairways and greens. There were some brown patches, but they were always off the main portion of the fairways. Drinking water was also abundant on the course and the cart girls came by several times.

The approach to the 7th Hole,
a 502-yard Par 5 on the White Course

Because of the wet conditions, distance off the tee was a problem and I seemed to be hitting longer irons for my second shots on the White course. An 8 at the 2nd Hole due to a topped tee shot into a hazard put me in an early hole, and although my short game seemed to put in good spots, I struggled to hit the ball online or hard enough with my putts. I finished out the opening nine with two 5s for a 49.

The 9th Hole on the White Course
viewed from behind the Green

The Blue course, which I played as my back nine, was much more consistent. After three-putting the 1st Hole for a bogey 4, I made par on the short 303-yard 2nd Hole. A pulled tee shot out of bounds and a fat wedge approach left me staggering with a 9 at the 520-yard Par 5 3rd Hole. But I regrouped to shoot all 4s and 5s the rest of the way in, including pars at the Par 5 8th and Par 3 9th.

187-yard 1st Hole on the Blue Course

My back nine 45 left me with a 94 for my round, which was especially satisfying given the wet conditions and the fact that I was not striking the ball as well as I had been. My 3 woods have been particularly disappointing and the search goes on for one I can hit conistantly, But I was really pleased with my short game; I often chipped within makable distance and got out of three bunkers with relative ease despite the heavy, wet sand. Ramblewood charged me $43 to walk on a Monday afternoon, which may have been a little high given the wet conditions when I started, but it was an enjoyable afternoon on a very enjoyable course.

The approach to the 5th Green,
a 359-yard Par 4 on the Blue Course

More images of Ramblewood Country Club:

The 6th Hole on the White Course, a 196-yard Par 3

The 6th Green on the Blue Course
as seen from the 7th Tee Box

The tee shot on the 333-yard 7th Hole on the Blue Course

The tunnel under S. Church Street which leads
to and from Holes 3 through 8 on the Blue Course

The 9th Hole on the Blue Course, a short 307-yard Par 4

Photos by The Muni Golfer

Four Ault-ernate Courses

While writing recently on this blog about the courses I have played, I discovered that I have now played four courses designed by renowned golf architect Ed Ault. Ault, who passed away in 1989, designed or co-designed over 100 golf courses. In the late 1950s, he established the golf course design firm Ault, Clarke & Associates, Ltd., which still adheres to his philosophies and standards of golf course design. Ault seemed to enjoy his most prolific period of course design in the 1960s as the merger of a young charasmatic Arnold Palmer and the infancy of televised golf began bringing the sport to the masses. The four Ed Ault courses that I have been fortunate enough to play fall into four unique and distinct categories: municipal, daily fee, public country club and private country club. Those courses are:

Juniata Golf Club: One of Philadelphia's six municipal golf courses and my home course. Opened in 1930, it was probably one of Ault's earliest designs since he would have only been 22 years old at the time. Built along the Tacony Creek, this short course, which features naturally rolling terrain, is set amongst the urban landscape of a major metropolitan city.

Center Square Golf Course: Built in 1963, this Ault-designed daily fee course sits on 148 wooded acres in the suburbs just northwest of Philadelphia. It has hosted two national championships: the 1980 and 1997 U.S. Women's Amateur Publinks Championship. I played this course two weeks ago.

Ramblewood Country Club: Designed by Ault in 1962, this Delaware Valley public country club in Mt. Laurel, N.J., features 27 championships holes set through a housing community that borders the edges of the course. Ramblewood Country Club and the surrounding homes were developed by Richard C. Goodwin, a Drexel University alumnus, who endowed the University's Richard C. Goodwin College of Professional Studies, of which my wife is an alumna. I played in several Drexel golf outings there in the mid-1990s.

Shawnee Country Club: This private country club in Milford, Del., was established in 1957 by local businessmen. Ault co-designed Shawnee with Al Jamison in 1960. The well-maintained, PGA-rated championship course sees approximately 23,000 rounds of play per year. I played this course in July 1999.

For a full list of Ed Ault-designed course, click here.